Navy Chief and Three Combatant Commanders Formally 'Non-Concur' With Hegseth's Order Extending Iran War Deployments Into 2027

The Aug. 14 Secretary of Defense Orders Book records that the commanders of U.S. European, Pacific and Southern Commands, with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, entered a formal "non-concur" against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's direction to extend their forces to the Iran campaign into 2027, according to people who described the classified document to the Washington Post. Caudle reportedly told Hegseth barely one-fourth of the Navy's destroyers are ready to deploy. Army and Air Force leaders concurred but flagged significant risk.

A non-concur is a recorded objection that commanders will still execute, so the entries put the leadership's disagreement on paper inside the document governing worldwide force allocation. They go to whether a six-month campaign held at more than 50,000 troops is draining readiness those same commanders must maintain elsewhere.

Hegseth spokesman Sean Parnell said the Pentagon does not discuss the orders book or any specific concurrences, non-concurrences or risk assessments, and that force decisions follow the president's priorities and the advice of the Joint Chiefs chairman.